Electric City Couture to light up Universal Preservation Hall

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Fashion might not be the first word that comes to mind when one pictures upstate New York.

But a few pockets of style call the Capital Region home and they’ll have a chance to show their stuff at a collaborative event this weekend in the Spa City.

This Saturday, the sixth annual Electric City Couture Fashion Show, a standing-room-only event at Universal Preservation Hall draws designers, models, makeup and hair artists and business owners from around the area.

Event organizers say the show serves as a model for the local and regional economies and the theme, The Makers Movement in America, illustrates a trend of many moving away from consumerism and taking pride in unique, homemade and local goods.

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“People have a lot of interest in looking where things come from, it’s making people look back at a regional economy,” said Corey Aldrich, one of the show’s founders.

Organizers and participants said the Capital Region is, in fact, an example of a profitable, regional economy. Many designers in Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and Troy have international clients in addition to their local storefronts.

“It gives people a chance to see local designers,” Aldrich said. “It showcases the strengths of an industry that we do have here. It’s an attraction for the region, the creative economy is profitable.”

The sold-out show begins at 8 p.m., but a pop-up shop featuring fashions from many of the show’s designers will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Universal Preservation Hall. The show will present six designers, five collections with 10 looks each.

Aldrich and Joleen Button founded the show five years ago to showcase the region as a high-fashion destination. Since the show began, each year there’s a new theme and new fashions showcased. The show also gives makeup artists, photographers and hairstylists a chance to showcase their craft.

This year, the show also does something else that’s unique to an upstate New York fashion event – the models get paid.

“Each year, the ring grows of people getting paid,” Aldrich said. “That’s something of a point of convention for me, the way to benefit all involved is to get them paid. Creative people should be paid for this work.”

Local designers like Kathleen Tesnakis of `e ko logic, a sustainable clothing company in Troy, look forward to a chance to showcase their best work.

“I get to steal some time away and do new work for the show,” she said. “I am fortunate that I have been an independent artist for years. If I didn’t have the incredibly creative people I work with, this might not be possible.”

Tesnakis said the local sales help her to employ local talent, which has become a source of great pride for her Fulton Street shop.

“It just snowballs across the whole community,” she said. “This is a celebration of the talent here, we’re a hot bed.”

Universal Presentation Hall Board President Teddy Foster said the show is a benefit to the historic Saratoga Springs space as well as the local economy.

“Not only is it a wonderful fundraiser for the hall, but it gives a chance for designers to sell right off the runway,” she said. “It’s a win-win for all.”

The venue itself has been saved by a group of Saratogians who didn’t want to see the community space paved over for parking. Through a series of cultural events, Universal Preservation Hall is working to become a permanent mainstay in the community.

“The one thing that has kept this place standing is people who have belief in it,” Foster said. “For a long time we struggled to keep it open, we’ve seemed to attract great people to us.”

All involved are looking forward to another year of success, all while supporting those local business people that make it all happen.

“When you buy a $250 garment at TJ Maxx, some of it goes back into the local economy, but even a $100 dress from a local designer, all of it stays here,” Aldrich said.